Schoeninger Margaret J, Iwaniec Urszula T, Nash Leanne T
Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA e-mail:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA, , , , , , US.
Oecologia. 1998 Jan;113(2):222-230. doi: 10.1007/s004420050372.
Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in hair samples from two species of Galago from Gedi Ruins National Monument in eastern Kenya and from Lepilemur leucopus from Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve in southern Madagascar. Forest structure was generally similar in the two areas but average rainfall was lower in Madagascar. Species average C values varied with feeding height in the forest canopy and with average rainfall level as expected from reported variation in plant C values. G. garnettii, which feeds higher in the forest canopy, had less negative C values than G. zanzibaricus, which spends more time below 5 m. L. leucopus, from a drought-afflicted forest, had less negative hair C values than the two galago species. The values within the Lepilemur sample showed a positive linear relation with percent dependence on a CAM tree species and with xeric conditions within the species reserve. Nitrogen stable isotope ratios varied with trophic level of feeding and with time spent feeding on leguminous plants. The insectivorous galagos had significantly more positive N values than the folivorous L. leucopus. Within the Lepilemur sample, N values varied inversely with the percent of feeding time spent on leguminous plants. The range of N and C values in each of the prosimian species is larger than reported for animals fed monotonous diets and for New World monkey species. The monkey species feed as groups of individuals whereas the prosimians have solitary feeding habits. The ranges in the prosimian species apparently reflect the greater variation in diet among individual prosimians compared to individual monkeys. The isotope data reported here are equivalent, on average, to those reported for other arboreal species from similar forest habitats and with similar dietary habits. This supports the use of such data for paleoecological reconstruction of forest and woodland systems and diet reconstruction of extinct primate populations and species.
在来自肯尼亚东部格迪遗址国家纪念地的两种婴猴以及马达加斯加南部贝扎马哈法利特别保护区的白足鼬狐猴的毛发样本中，测量了碳和氮的稳定同位素比率。这两个地区的森林结构总体相似，但马达加斯加的平均降雨量较低。正如报道的植物碳值变化所预期的那样，物种平均碳值随森林冠层的取食高度和平均降雨水平而变化。在森林冠层较高位置取食的加氏婴猴，其碳值的负值比在5米以下花费更多时间的桑给巴尔婴猴要小。来自干旱森林的白足鼬狐猴，其毛发碳值的负值比两种婴猴都要小。鼬狐猴样本中的碳值与对一种景天酸代谢树种的依赖百分比以及物种保护区内的干旱条件呈正线性关系。氮稳定同位素比率随取食营养级以及取食豆科植物所花费的时间而变化。食虫的婴猴的氮值明显比食叶的白足鼬狐猴更正。在鼬狐猴样本中，氮值与取食豆科植物所花费的时间百分比呈反比。每个原猴物种的氮值和碳值范围都比报道的食用单一饮食的动物和新大陆猴物种的范围要大。猴类以个体群体的形式取食，而原猴具有单独的取食习性。原猴物种的范围显然反映了与个体猴子相比，个体原猴的饮食差异更大。这里报道的同位素数据平均而言与来自类似森林栖息地且饮食习惯相似的其他树栖物种所报道的数据相当。这支持了利用这些数据进行森林和林地系统的古生态重建以及已灭绝灵长类种群和物种的饮食重建。
